Dear Tweeters,

Although the following diatribe does focus (pun intended) on errors of attribution (who took which photo in the gull book), it goes on to point out errors of content which may interest those Tweeters who have purchased the book or intend so to do.

Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch

Visa Rauste <rauste at KRUUNA.HELSINKI.FI> wrote:
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 15:02:12 +0300
From: Visa Rauste
Subject: [EBN] Too many erros in the Gull Book
To: EUROBIRDNET at listserv.funet.fi

Dear EBN,

I have been waiting for a copy of 'Gulls of Europe, Asia and North
America' from the publisher, as there are several photos of mine in
the book. Yesterday I got tired of waiting and bought a copy in a book
store, and immediately understood why the publisher postpones the
sending of photographers' copies...

I understand well that small numbers of erros and mistakes creep into
all published works, but what I saw exceeds all decent standards.

I started with Heuglin's Gull, and of course with photographs.

> 571 1st spring. Note diamond-shaped mantle and scapulars, and broad pale
> edges to 1st winter tertials A less advanced individual than 574-578.
> Tampere Finland 24 April 2001. Visa Rauste.

The text is OK but the photo is Henry Lehto's from Oulu, May 1998.

> 572 moulting into 1st spring. A few adult-type dark grey feathers present
> in upperparts. Oulo, Finland 26 May 1998 Henry Lehto.

Here again, the text is OK, but the photograph is mine from Archangelsk,
June 1999.

> 573 1st spring/summer The developement of extensive adult-like feathers
> in upperparts combined with juvenile primaries are indicative for
> Heuglin's Gull at this age. Archangelsk, NW Russia 11 Jun 1999.
> Visa Rauste

The text does not describe the bird in photo. I'm not quite sure but I
cannot recognize the photo as mine.

> 574 1st spring/summer Note delicate barring in axillaries, ofren present
> in this species. Oulo, Finland. Harry J. Lehto.

The text is OK, but photo is mine from Tampere, late April 2001.

> 575 1st spring. Note that secondaries have been renewed in winter, and
> P1 is moulted. Mantle and scapulars as well as some coverts of grey
> type. Tampere, Finkand 29 April 2001. Visa Rauste.

The secondaries are obviously of juvenile plumage. P1 is missing due to
moult. The photo is mine, but not from April but approximately 24 May.
This is significant because heuglini does not start its primary moult in
April (the earliest date I have seen is 16 May).

> 576 1st spring/summer Note tail and rump pattern, dark primaries and
> late moult compared to Lesser Black-backed Gull ssp fuscus; just P1 is
> shed which is typical for Heuglin's Gul, fuscus normally much more
> advanced, sometimes with all primaries renewed by spring. 24 May 2001.
> Visa Rauste

Tail and rump are hardly visible in the photo, and all juvenile primaries
are present. The photograph is not mine.

> 577 1st spring/summer. Note mixture of barred and uniform feathers in
> upperwing as well as fresh P1-3. Oulo, Finland. 1 Jun 1998. Harry J.
> Lehto.

P1-3 are rather fresh, but so are P4-10, too! Apparently the text does
not describe the bird in the photo. Actually, no bird among 2cy heuglini
photos shows any contrast between P3 and P4. The photo is mine, from
Tampere, 27 May 2000.

> 578 1st spring/summer. Primaries still juvenile, whereas 50% of
> secondaries has been renewed. Finland. 27 May 2000. Visa Rauste.

The photo is not mine. The whole caption fits with photo 577, but no
such simple solution explains the erroneous captions above.

Well, at this point my anger changed to sadness... I took random looks
at other species, and it seems that heuglini is not an exception. For
example, the caption to 339 talks about underwing-coverts which are not
visible. Have the photo pages been proofread at all?

The last straw was a mistake in the Errata sheet: page 258 (plate 38) is
OK, but the error is on the previous plate (37).

I returned my copy to the book store and got my money back.

But is it really THIS we have been waifing for for years? How many
mistakes are in other captions which I cannot check? How can I trust in
anything in such a book? This book was supposed to be the standard
reference for years!

If the sample above is representative for the whole book, the whole
edition should be withdrawn from the market. At least the publisher
should immediately make a comprehensive list of all errors, even if it
would be massive, and distribute it in the web and with the book.

This is extremely sad, especially because the text part of the book (the
small samples I had time to read) was a positive surprise. The text is
well written and up to date, and contains lots of new information.
Also the printing quality of photographs is better than usual.

--
Visa Rauste, Helsinki, Finland
visa.rauste at helsinki.fi


Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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